Neil Young’s High Fidelity PonoPlayer To Launch On Kickstarter Soon

Remember back in 2013 we reported that musician Neil Young was looking to launch a new music format of his own? We had heard the term “Pono” being tossed around and while we’re not sure if that is the name of the music format he had in mind, it is the name of his upcoming media player dubbed the PonoPlayer.

The PonoPlayer is expected to launch as a Kickstarter project come 15th of March. It is, as you can see in the image above, designed rather uniquely which we’re not sure if it will for it or against it. The media player was launched at SXSW and will apparently will offer listeners “master-quality digital music at the highest audio fidelity possible.”

This “master-quality” digital music will be available for download and purchase via PonoMusic which is an accompanying digital music store that listeners will have access to. The store will feature songs from both indie and major labels. Users will also be able to download a piece of software that will allow them to manage their device and their music.

It sounds a bit like the iPod and iTunes, except that PonoMusic will only offer up high-quality songs, while iTunes customers will be able to choose between different formats and quality. For those wondering how much the player will cost, it is pegged for around $399.

According John Hamm, CEO of PonoMusic, “Our goal was to offer the highest quality digital music available from all the major labels with the world’s greatest sounding, user-friendly portable music player. We’ve achieved our goal and we are excited to launch our Kickstarter campaign next week to invite music lovers everywhere to join the PonoMusic community and reserve a PonoPlayer for their own enjoyment.”